How the Renaissance transformed the written word….

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Presentation on theme: "How the Renaissance transformed the written word…."— Presentation transcript:

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How the Renaissance transformed the written word…

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  Reflected Renaissance curiosity and interest in the humanities  Wrote works on philosophy and scholarship  Developed guidebooks for men and women to become successful in the Renaissance world Italian Writers:

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  Wrote The Book of the Courtier  Describes the manners, skills, learning, and virtues that a member of the court should possess.  Ideal courtier- well educated, well mannered aristocrat who mastered many fields(poetry, music, sports, etc..) Baldassare Castiglione

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  Wrote a guide for rulers on how to gain and maintain power  Did not discuss ideals, but looked at real rulers in an age of ruthless power politics  Stressed “the end justifies the means”  Urged rulers to use whatever methods were necessary to achieve their goals Niccolò Machiavelli

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  Machiavelli saw himself as an enemy of oppression and corruption  Critics attacked his advice, said it was too cynical  Machiavellian- came to refer to the use of deceit in politics  Give an example of a modern leader who follows Machiavelli’s advice. Machiavelli continued…

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 A Revolution in Printing Before the printing press: 1.A few thousand books throughout Europe 2.All books were hand written 3.Books were expensive After the printing press: 1.By 1500, 20 million books had been printed 2.Books were cheaper 3.Books were readily available 4.More people learned to read

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 Johann Gutenberg  1455, in Mainz, Germany, printed the first complete edition of the Bible using a printing press with movable type

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  Renaissance writers still wrote in Latin, however, many writers began writing in the vernacular  Vernacular- everyday language of the people  How does the vernacular revolutionize reading and writing? Vernacular

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  Important scholar of his time  Used his knowledge of classical language to produce a Greek edition of the Bible  Helped spread Renaissance humanism  Wanted the Bible translated into the vernacular Desideratum Erasmus

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  Pressed for social reform  Wrote Utopia  His book described an ideal society where men and women lived in peace and harmony Sir Thomas More

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  Monk, physician, Greek scholar, author  Wrote Garantua and Pantagruel  About the adventures of 2 gentle giants  On the surface was a funny tale, but it also tackled serious subjects such as religion and education  Rabelais was deeply religious, but had doubts about the organized church François Rabelais

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  English poet and playwright  His genius was in expressing universal themes in everyday, realistic settings  He is responsible for the creation of over 1700 new words  Wrote 37 plays that are still performed today William Shakespeare